Estoril
Race report by Peter Winsome

Starting grid
Team	Name	Nationality
Jetta	1. Sue de Lou
MacLuren	2. I. Falafel Paludrino
WYCC	3. Mark Hero
Teaflax	4. Hagbard Celine
Jetta	5. Jeff Akbar
MacLuren	6. Notofu Nofun
WYCC	7. King Boy D

It all came down to Estoril in the end. Celine or de Lou? The answer was nowhere near as easy as anyone expected.

Despite looming rain clouds every team on the grid had opted for dry tires, but the gods can be a capricious bunch indeed, and intermittent showers soon gave way to full rain. The first victim was Jetta's Sue de Lou, involved in some bustling in the rain-slick corners, being crowded and finally being knocked off by Paludrino's unscathed MacLuren at the Esses on lap 10. This left a slim mathematical chance for intrepid Brazilian Hagbard Celine to steal the championship from de Lou - a win would now put him ahead of her by one point.

At the first round of pit stops Britain's Hero lead over Celine, closely followed by MacLuren's Nofun, who quickly caught up with the leader, only to get his front wing knocked off, surely a factor in his subsequent spinout in the Orelha curve. Meanwhile, Nofun's team mate languished in 6th, looking like he would once again be a denied a podium. Celine showed the guts that makes him a consistent finisher and took a commanding lead over Hero. Brazilian fans were already celebrating their boy's victory, not aware of the strain he had put on his machine.

At the second round of pit stops, Celine's pit crew did their best to patch the damage, but the long delay allowed Hero to catch up and suddenly the battle for first heated up considerably, with both veteran drivers chasing their first ever win. Meanwhile, both Paludrino and Austrian Jeff Akbar had taken advantage of Nofun's spinout and advanced into third and fourth.

WYCC's British rookie driver King Boy D, pursuing a one-stop strategy shouldered on but, as newcomers will, pushed too hard, spinning out in the VIP curve, scuppering any chances of a high placement. Soon after, Celine succumbed to the pressure of having to fight a determined Hero for both a first career win and the championship, first spinning out in Orelha, then suffering a spectacular suspension failure in the Esses curve. This after having, ironically, hit debris from de Lou's early crash.

This made Sue de Lou the champion, but it is to her credit that she did not celebrate untll she had made sure that Celine was unharmed from the crash that sealed her status as this year's best driver.

It also meant that Mark Hero could drive to a leisurly finish, for his first spot on the top of the podium. Jeff Akbar cruised into second, placing him second in the driver's championship and giving Jetta the coveted one-two-three of all the available top spots on the chart. Paludrino followed close behind Akbar, never threatening him, but racking up his first ever podium finish just in front of his team mate. King Boy D managed to get his car over the finish line for an honorable fifth place.

The smoking ruins of Hagbard Celine's canary yellow Teaflax were still awarded one point for sixth because of the lateness of his accident, and that way Teaflax Racing kept their second place in the team championship, albeit shared with WYCC.

All in all, an exciting end to an interesting season that's seen some upsets and a lot of action both on and off the track. Next season should be even more closely contested, with new rules, some team changes and more races on the schedule.

Stay tuned.

Final qualifications
Team	Name	Nationality	Points
WYCC	1. Mark Hero		10
Jetta	2. Jeff Akbar		6
MacLuren	3. I. Falafel Paludrino		4
MacLuren	4. Notofu Nofun		3
WYCC	5. King Boy D		2
Teaflax	6. Hagbard Celine		1
Jetta	DNF Sue de Lou		-